Substantial block of industrial landholdings placed for sale

Two enormous blocks of industrially-used land on the urban fringe of Hamilton city have been placed on the market for sale simultaneously.

The pair of properties at 16 and 16 A Wickham Street are located in the industrial district of Frankton, and feature a combined area of more than eight hectares.

They are strategically located immediately beside what has been designated as the Kahikatea Drive entry point onto the New Zealand Transport Agency’s planned Southern Links.

The $100 million project is designed to increase connectivity between the Tamahere area south of Hamilton with the city’s western urban boundary and linking up with both State Highway One and State Highway 23.

The New Zealand Transport Agency forecasts the Southern Links project will increase travelling efficiency and decrease congestion for all road users – as well as making it easier for heavy goods and freight vehicles to access Hamilton city’s western fringe.

Sitting side by side, the two freehold sections form the demarcation belt delineating central Hamilton on one side and rural pasture land on the other. Both landholdings are classified rural 1A under the Waipa District Council zoning plan.

16 Wickham Street is a square-shaped parcel of land facing directly onto the road, while 16A Wickham Street branches off the end of a right-of way running from the road and sitting directly behind 16 Wickham Street.

The blocks are being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Hamilton, with tenders closing at 4pm on December 7. Salespeople Alex ten Hove and Mike Swanson said the blocks could either be tendered for individually or as a combined parcel. The landholdings are owned by two different vendors, although they do have some common shareholdings.

“It’s one of the biggest blocks of industrial land this close to the heart of Hamilton to come onto the market this decade,” Mr ten Hove said. “Their boundary onto Wickham Street is the actual line which separates Hamilton City Council properties from Waipa District Council land.

“Faced with future zoning changes from rural to industrial use and the properties’ strategic location at the gateway to a potential new motorway link, the permutations of future development on these sections is a virtual blank canvas.

“The L-shaped format of these flat topography sites, sitting side-by-side, could, subject to council consents, also sustain the creation of multiple large warehousing units in a collegial hub-style format or a secure freight depot.

“Alternatively, the two sites could sustain redevelopment into an intensive strata-titled industrial enclave of tilt-slab concrete units in the 200 – 400-metre size range.

“Whichever option, the true value in these properties lies in combining the individual sections and making a more efficient use of the resulting ‘super block’ – the likes of which is unprecedented this close to the centre of the city.”

The property at 16 Wickham Street currently sustains three tenancies – two of which are generating a combined rental income of $176,648 per annum, while the third is an owner/occupier entity delivering an assess rental income of $276,352.

The property has some 1,402 square metres of buildings scattered around its perimeter – ranging from shared office amenities in a relocated residential dwelling, through to an 865 square metre five-year-old, six-metre high, steel beam, open plan warehouse with three roller door entry points.

The tenants include event hosting equipment supplier X-Site Group which is currently on a lease running through to 2020, with one further five-year right of renewal, and garden landscaping firm Complete Landscape Supplies which is also on a lease expiring in 2020 with one further five-year right of renewal.

Meanwhile, the two blocks at 16 A Wickham Street are occupied by 16 small tenants in the roading, infrastructure, transport, freight-fowarding, and construction sectors – generating a combined annual net income of $243,914. Seven of the tenancies are on month-to-month occupation contracts.

Mr Swanson said the various tenancies through the properties were separated from each other by minimal post and wire fencing purely for the purpose of delineation, with some taller galvanised chain-link and aluminium post fencing along parts of the perimeter edging.

“Wickham Street is just 500 metres from State Highway One – which is one of the reasons many of the current transport sector tenants have leased space within the location. Foremost among them is Les Harrison Transport - one of the biggest privately-owned trucking operations in the North Island,” Mr Swanson said.

“When the Southern Links project comes to fruition, the location will be even closer to the motorway access routes feeding both north and south.”

Two enormous blocks of industrially-used land on the urban fringe of Hamilton city have been placed on the market for sale simultaneously.

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